After watching traffic on this website drop to very low levels (and considering the state of affairs in NY), I have decided to cease funding and maintaining hosting and domain registrations for this website.

If any one would like to continue with the cnylandcoalition.org domain name, please email me at tim@schuttnet.net, and I will arrange transfer of the domain to you. The domain name is paid through May 2018 - and I will not be renewing it. So if you want to use it you will need to contact me prior to that date.

It has been sometime since we last communicated but I have exhausted State remedies for the above stated matter. I have now filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court for the Western District of New York that the State of New York has violated my constitutional rights. I have also requested Class Action Certification. Simply, I am suing the State of New York that because of the ban to extract natural gas from my lands, I am demanding that I be compensated for the resources that cannot be extracted. Now the case has become much more serious with significant consequences both for the State of New York and the oil and gas industry. You have advised that members of your coalition would volunteer as expert witnesses involving the benefits of HVHF in the Upstate New York area/Southern Tier. Accordingly, it is necessary for me to ask for the volunteers to contact me so that I can prepare for trial.

ALBANY - An East Rochester lawyer waging a years-long battle over New York's hydraulic fracturing ban is taking a new approach, filing a lawsuit last week attempting to force the state to compensate him for the oil-and-gas rights on his land.

David Morabito and his wife, Colette, are suing the state Department of Environmental Conservation in federal court, arguing that the state essentially took their property rights by preventing them from allowing high-volume fracking on their land.

The Morabitos own land in Allegany County within the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation, which was once targeted by natural-gas drillers looking to pay landowners for their mineral rights until Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration banned high-volume fracking in late 2014.

Their case centers on the constitutional "takings" principle in the Fifth Amendment, which prevents governments from taking private property for public use "without just compensation."

In his lawsuit, Morabito called the Cuomo administration's decision a "complete sham and a constitutional 'taking.'"

"(The) actions taken by the State of New York ... are not based on science, technology or even conservation," Morabito wrote in his Dec. 12 lawsuit.

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More: Cuomo administration bans hydrofracking in NY

Fracking, as the technique is known, is the use of chemical-laced water injected deep underground to create fissures in underground rock formations and release natural gas and oil.

Technological advances over the last 15 years had allowed the technique to be used in horizontal gas wells, opening up previously unreachable formations like the Marcellus Shale, which is believed to be richest in the Southern Tier.

Cuomo's administration announced in December 2014 that it would not allow high-volume, horizontal fracking to proceed in New York, pointing to a report from the state Department of Health that questioned its affect on human health.

It was the culmination of a seven-year review process that spanned two governors and spurred countless protests and rallies across the state, with anti-fracking activists often picketing outside Cuomo's events urging him to ban the practice and pro-fracking landowners saying it would be a boost to the economy.

Erica Ringewald, a spokeswoman for the DEC, declined comment on Morabito's suit.

"DEC does not comment on pending litigation," she said.

Morabito's suit does not specify how much compensation he's looking for, instead saying that would be worked out at trial. He reserved the right to open it up to a class action.

The attorney, who is representing himself, first challenged the ban in state court in May 2015, arguing that it didn't have legal merit in part because the DEC had regulated vertical fracking for more than two decades.

His suit was ultimately dismissed when a state Supreme Court justice ruled he didn't have standing to sue because he never formally applied for a drilling permit, a decision that was upheld by the Appellate Division earlier this year.

At the time, Morabito said the decision would allow him to pursue his claim in federal court, which he is now doing.

“I look forward to helping the citizens of Western New York, and in particular, the Southern Tier of New York state," he said in an April statement.

JURISDICTION 1. This is an action through 42 U.S.C. §1983 against the State of New York,New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Basil Seggos, ActingCommissioner of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for aCase 6:17-cv-06853-CJS Document 1 Filed 12/12/17 Page 1 of 95violation of the Takings and Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution. 2. This Court has jurisdication pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1331 and 42 U.S.C.§1983. 3. Plaintiffs seek just compensation under the Fifth Amendment of the UnitedStates Constitution and damages under the Due Process Clause. 4. On or about June 29, 2015, Defendants “officially” prohibited high-volumehydraulic fracturing (HVHF) thereby preventing and prohibiting the ability of Plaintiffs toextract their natural resources on their property(s) located in the Western District of NewYork. 5. Defendants’ decision to prohibit HVHF constitutes a final decision applyingland-use regulations on the Plaintiffs’ property(s). An actual controversy therefore existsbetween the parties. 6. Venue in this District is proper under 28 U.S.C. §1391(b) because asubstantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to Plaintiffs’ claims occurred inthis District. The property(s) are located in the Western District of New York. Propertytaxes are paid in the Western District of New York. Domicile and residence of Plaintiffsare located in the Western District of New York. The Defendants have numerous officeslocated in the Western District of New York. The permitting application(s) would be filedand/or submitted for approval in the Western District of New York. The mineralresources subject to this claim are located in the Western District of New York.